The North Korea Paradox

Thanks for watching! I made a poster about maps & i hope you like it. You can check it out here: store.dftba.com/products/all-maps-are-wrong-poster

I was in Tokyo when North Korea launched a ballistic missile over Japan. My whole family had a panic attack and called me thinking I was in a crysis. Not a single person in Tokyo was panicked, just a normal day, at least as far as I could tell, I don't speak Japanese. It was a very strange experience.

I'm a South Korean and I agree that US media kind of emphasize North Korea(Nuclear) threats more than South Korea Media does. We do fear north korea nuclear weapon threats, but sometimes we think others(like US or Japan) consider the threat more than we do.

Mr Johnny Harris, I tip my hat to you. I am 73 years old and recently retired. I have been a musician, a song -writer, a pilot, a pastor and I have headed up an innovation centre at a university and been a high school teacher - but I have learned more from you than I have learned from a lifetime of formal education. You are the most gifted teacher I have ever witnessed and had the privilege to learn from. Keep up the good work. The people of the world have much to learn and you are the best person to teach it!

As a South Korean living in Seoul for the past 10 years, I can confidently confirm that an attack from the north is way at the bottom of the things to worry about if it makes the list at all. We got way more shit to worry about than that

My grandmother was from North Korea but the war broke out while she was enjoying her summer holiday in the South and she never got to reunite with her family ever again until the day she died. I feel deeply heartbroken whenever I think of her although she passed away before I was even born but also thankful that she was in South Korea as I could not have existed today if she wasn’t.

Personally, I suspect that many South Koreans have realized, consciously or unconsciously. That being in a constant state of panic over something they have zero control over is unproductive and even detrimental to their emotional well-being.

I went to the DMZ last February and you're totally right. It's rather sad than scary to be in that place, considering how many people/families have been separated from their loved ones

I love how some of your videos have that chaotic energy of somebody who just learned something crazy and can't wait to tell everybody.

Watching this makes me understand North Korea's pain and hate more, but at the same time I think the way they're holding onto that pain and trauma is the same as drinking poison and expecting the other person to die. In the end it only really hurts themselves more.

I love how you provide the historical context and put together this bigger picture of how things came to be

This is really well made. I am Korean and there are some information that I didn't even know. Props. I never like videos but you deserve it for real. Thank you for the education

My grandfather was born in North Korea, came to the south during the war and decided to stay. One of his dying wishes was reunification to one day reunite with his family (voted liberal for Moon back in 2016 wishing this would come true). as my grandfathers generation passes away, the connection between the koreas are going to get more distant.. and the perception of the N.Korean threat and what war can separate from us will disappear with them..

A former colleague of mine was stationed at the North Korean border while in the Army. He said it was the most depressing place on Earth and just a 24 hour stare-down contest. Each side showing off to the other. He was so happy to get out of there.

That's what most "bomb shelters" are. Publicly accessible areas that are low/underground, can hold many people, and are stronger than normal structures just by the nature of their construction...subways, parking structures, etc. My elementary school had a section of basement off of the gym designated as bomb shelter, undoubtedly from the Cold War era when it was built.

Thank you for teaching me more about the history of the Korean conflict and how today's situation evolved in 24 minutes than I learned in all my years in school.

a South Korean, living just 40km across the border, watching your video at 3:21 AM .. Truly inspiring piece since the last blue state opinion on NYT. You made me to rethink about the current state about Korean peninsula. ( also reminding me of old highschool history classes haha ) Indeed, i deem that many S. Koreans just got used to N. Korean nuclear power and missile tests. Eventhough US covers those incident like upcoming WW3, here it’s just like “huh that idiot again 😂” and nobody is actually panicked.

He has really mastered the art of looking through piles of papers, rolling out maps, and looking in drawers.

"... a city that has moved on." I hope everyone realized that in life, we have no hold of our past but we can do better to make our future better. Be kind, be humble, be resilient, be loved and love. Thank you Johnny for this. Have a nice day everyone.

My late husband was stationed about 25km from the dmz from 93-94. My infant daughter & I moved over there with him and lived in a tiny village off post. We were on alert a lot, there were a lot of false scares, we were really worried 2x, once when Kim IL sung died, our post was on high alert jic, & once some south Korean fishermen were drunk and in an area they weren't supposed to be, and originally they thought the men were north Korean spies. When we'd call home our families would be freaking out over something they heard on the news, and we were always shocked at how blown out of proportion things were. They were always more freaked out from the news than we were living right there. Thank you for making this , it's a fresh new perspective, I have always been fascinated by both Koreas since I lived there, I watch a lot of documentaries on every aspect I can think of, and I appreciate this one, I found it super interesting. 💜